Twisted Every Way (AU)
by rusticsky
Summary: Christine isn't the one to die at the end.
1. Chapter 1

**So this was originally written by a friend and I, but I liked it so much (and we weren't going to continue) that I decided to rewrite it and put it into an equally depressing story. This is only the first part (based on the original), and I'm probably going to start the rest of it.**

 **BEWARE - DEPRESSING!**

"The docks… monsieur, where are the docks?" Christine asked a man who walked, her eyes wide with worry. _Gustave… oh I hope he's alright! Meg wouldn't hurt him. Meg… Meg couldn't._

"Right that way, miss," the man said, pointing to the water. Christine nodded in thanks, before hurrying away. The Phantom followed, but he almost lost her multiple times through the thick crowd. Christine saw some signs, pointing to the docks. She began picking up her pace to a run- folks were clearing as it was dark at and no one had no reason to be at the docks. Except for Christine, who was terrified for her son.

"Gustave?" Christine approached a lamplit area, and upon seeing Meg standing, holding Gustave's hand, screamed, "GUSTAVE!" She ran to Meg and Gustave, but upon seeing that Meg was holding a gun, backed off. The Phantom soon joined Christine. Christine's eyes were wide. Gustave dangled off the edge of the dock, only a foot and Meg's hand keeping him safe.

"Mother!" cried Gustave, terrified. Meg's eyes were fixed on the Phantom.

"Another step and he dies," Meg warned, "years and years of being overlooked, and finally the attentions on me." Her voice tightened, "I'VE DONE SO MANY THINGS FOR YOU, ERIK! I became a prostitute, for God's sake! Look at what you've made me!"

"I-"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Meg shrieked, "and for that, Gustave…" Her eyes shifted, finding those of Christine's. "Gustave, go to your parents…" she whispered quietly. Gustave ran to Christine's arms. "I've got your attention, now haven't I?" Her shaking hand moved the gun towards the Phantom. "But its not worth killing you, is it, and being stuck with this hell of a life?" Christine gasped. Meg moved the gun to her head.

"Meg, don't do it!" yelled Madame Giry, who'd followed the Phantom along with a worried Raoul.

"Meg, please," Christine moved towards her troubled friend, still holding Gustave, "drop the gun."

"Christine, I can't…" mumbled Meg.

"Please."

The gun clattered to the floor, but not without a bang. Gustave screamed. He stood, shaking, before falling backward into Christine.

"Mother… why does it hurt, Mother?" Gustave clutched his chest, right where the bullet pierced his skin.

"Its okay, Gustave," Christine whispered, before kneeling down, letting Gustave fall to his knees. "It'll all be over soon…" There was no chance for help, and Christine knew that. Blood seeped out of the wound, Christine couldn't believe that it was real. But that shade of red… it was unmistakable.

"Mother, what's happening?"

Christine couldn't bare to tell her son the truth, but instead she sang a song to him, a lullaby that Gustave knew well. "Look with your heart, and not with your eyes…" She cast a glance at the Phantom, before sighing, "Your father… your real father, is… is…" Christine couldn't finish the sentence, before both Raoul and the Phantom came kneeling beside the two.

"We're here," Raoul said softly, "because we're both, your father." He offered the Phantom a smile- an offering of peace to end their quarrel.

"Father... but Mr. Y is scary!"

"My name isn't Mr. Y, little Vicomte."

"Then what is it?" Gustave tensed, causing Christine to grab him.

"Close your eyes, Gustave. You need not know his name, just know that we…" Christine sighed, closing her eyes, "we all love you." Christine laid a kiss on her son's forehead. "Just love… just live… and give what we can give… and take, what little we…" She cast a glare at the Phantom, "deserve." She breathed slowly, noticing that Gustave's eyes had closed. His breathing softened, until it became no more. "He's gone." Christine laid the boy's head down, before the Phantom swept him into his arms. Christine did not run to cry on the Phantom though, she found Raoul and wouldn't let go. Because, as everyone knew, Christine's heart would never truly belong to the Phantom. For who could love a murderer like him?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, thanks emeraldphan for the review! Glad to see you like the little plot twist there.**

 **I've decided to keep chapters short. Idk, it's just easier.**

"Gustave…" in Christine's dream, Gustave was nearing a cliff. " _Don't go there,_ Gustave!" _The Phantom appeared, reaching for the boy. Raoul stood, speculating. And Meg, Meg was at the edge._

" _Come here, Gustave! I have something to show you!" Only it wasn't Meg speaking, it was the Phantom. "It's down there." Christine felt powerless. All she could do was speak, and she knew it wasn't reaching the boy. But why was the Phantom, her supposed lover, trying to coax Gustave into falling off the cliff? Neither Raoul nor Meg moved an inch._

" _Someone, do something!" Christine cried. Raoul suddenly changed, his image shifting to that of the young suitor he'd once been, a fierce, stubborn look appearing on his face that Christine was too well familiar with. He took steps towards the Phantom, attempting to shove him off the cliff, when the Phantom suddenly lashed out, shooting fire and burning Raoul's feet. Raoul leapt back, falling down._

" _Only you can stop him! Christine! Christine!"_

" _Christine?" the Phantom raised an eyebrow, still motioning for Gustave. That's when he took the boy's hand, and jumped._

"GUSTAVE!" Christine shrieked, now awake from her nightmare. She sat up on an empty bed, alone. Raoul rushed into the room.

"Christine, are you alright?" Raoul's eyes were wide with fear. "More nightmares?"

"Yes, I…" she shook her head, "I think."

"You think?" Raoul took a seat on the bed.

"It seemed so real, I couldn't stop-" Christine cast a glare at Raoul, taking a deep breath. "I miss him so much, Raoul." Raoul sighed.

"I know, Christine. We all do. Even Meg-" Christine sighed at the name. "Even Meg misses him. It wasn't her fault, you know."

"I know, Raoul, but I… I trusted her," Christine whispered, "we were the closest of friends at the opera, and…"

"You thought you could have what you had then again, didn't you?"

"No, I-"

"I know you well, Christine, and I know how much you loved Meg," Raoul's voice was soft. "Good friends don't go away easily."

"Even with ten long years, I didn't know someone could change so much…"

"In what ways?"

"Raoul. You know what she's done."

"Yes," Raoul sighed, "I do." He took a moment to breathe. "Go back to sleep, Christine. I need to work something out with Erik."

Christine watched Raoul leave, a frown on her face before she drifted asleep.

"Christine, I need to talk to you," Meg Giry's voice was what Christine awoke to. The short, blonde ballerina approached the bedside, her hair still a bit wet from her morning swim. "Its early, and I'm sorry about that."

"Meg!" Christine gasped, confused as to why she was being awoken."Why are you here?" Christine sat up.

"I need to apologize. When I took Gustave, I only meant to hurt Erik…" Meg's eyes nervously drifted off Christine, "I didn't think twice about you. And when… well, that's all over now. I… I was too scared, Christine. Too scared to live on. But here I am, and I'm pretty goddamn thankful." She looked in Christine's eyes, "in no way did I want Gustave to… to…" Christine could tell that Meg couldn't bare to finish her sentence.

"Its okay," Christine began to get up from her bed, "I'm so sorry for what… what you became. And how I tossed you aside once Raoul and I were married…" Christine took a step towards Meg, "oh Meg, I should be the sorry one." Meg and Christine hugged one another. "I truly am," Christine whispered.

"Me too, Christine, me too…" mumbled Meg, before the two friends sat down on the bed, the two of them both equally feeling guilty. Raoul sauntered inside, before gasping at the sight of Christine and Meg both hugging. Christine looked up at him, with a sad smile.

"We're going back to Paris, Meg. We're going back to Paris, and we're going to bury Gustave. In the cemetery, with my father," Christine's voice shook. Raoul eyed the two girls nervously as he searched through his suitcase.

"Back to Paris?" Meg hopefully smiled, "do you think that my mother and I could come over too?"

"Maybe," shrugged Christine, honestly, "but who'd be there to keep Erik from killing?"

"Maybe we could smuggle him back over!"

"He's dead in the eyes of the public, Meg! What if they saw him…?"

"Exactly, he's been dead for ten years! No one in their right mind will remember him!"

"She has a point," Raoul spoke up, "but I'm not sure that I want him around…"

"Raoul, Erik has the right to see Gustave off," Christine raised her voice, "why don't you give him a chance?"

"Christine, aren't you wondering if you're being a bit too trusting?" Raoul quickly approached the bed, before loudly whispering into her ear, "Meg killed Gustave, I certainly wouldn't be running to her for comfort."

"Meg is right here, Raoul!" Christine snapped, before noticing the raise in her voice and taking a deep breath, "right now I'll take whatever comfort I can get, even if it comes from the murderess herself." Raoul didn't reply to that, only taking a deep breath, before flusteredly leaving the room (having found what he had been searching for). "Meg, what would smuggling Erik to Paris involve?"

 **If you couldn't tell, I'm trying to keep Christine to her naive roots. I haven't had much urge to write this, but we'll see how it goes.**


End file.
